hadn't gotten a response.
"The General expects five confirmed kills this mission," Hughes yelled at us as Jinx spun the rotors up. "Or else you and I will start training together every day . And just to ensure that there are no breaches in discipline, I will be listening to your implant chatter." He smiled and shook his walkie-talkie at me, then ordered Grimstone to tie it into our squad comms. Grimmy gave me a look, I had no choice but to nod, and he did.
"Check, check," I said into the mike on my chest armor, and Grimstone gave me a thumbs up. So did Hughes, the walkie-talkie pressed to his ear. Then we boarded the choppers.
Jinx flew the right path this time, the actual listed flight plan around the Night Hunting Grounds and towards the valley where all the Hell-Spiders lived. An auto-piloted chopper followed us with the rest of the privates. As our base faded out of view I stopped praying to Three-Spot. I had to prepare the squad.
Zazlu was eating his energy bar angrily, but he was in the field now. He was pissed, but he would get done anything I asked of him. Juan was draining his second bottle of Gatorade and cocking and re-cocking the grenade launcher he was pointing out the open side of the chopper. His finger danced around the trigger, but he was okay too. And Grimstone had at least been on a few patrols with us before.
But drunk private- shit, what was his real name again... Telson, he was shaking like a whore in church. And cocaine private Harper was shaking like a minister at a Boy Scout meeting. This was their first real action, ever. And neither they nor the other privates knew anything about our deal with Three-Spot.
I leaned forward in my harness and tapped both privates on the knees. "Listen, you two," I said, fully aware that Hughes might as well have been there in the chopper with us. "You may see a lot of scary things out there today, but I want you two both to observe ABSOLUTE NOISE DISCIPLINE.
"That's what's kept us safe on our other missions. I want the both of you to keep your MOUTHS SHUT and not comment on ANYTHING you may see out there, no matter what it is. Do you read me, Privates?" I couldn't have Lieutenant Looked them any harder if I had been the janitor from OCS himself.
"Ye-yessss, sir," Telson stammered, his eyes terrified. Harper nodded too.
"And NO MATTER WHAT," I continued, "DO NOT FIRE until Lieutenant Mohammed says 'weapons free'. If you fire while we are establishing position on the enemy, I WILL SHOOT YOU MYSELF. CLEAR?"
"Yes sir!" they squeaked.
I leaned back, took a deep breath, and looked at Zazlu. He nodded back. It was the best we could do.
I started praying to Three-Spot again as Jinx started circling our drop-off spot. It was deep in the valley, and outside the fire-cleared landing zone you couldn't see anything through the solid tree cover. There were about a million ambush locations waiting in the shadowed jungle. No patrol that had ever been dropped off here had EVER returned, with ANY of their soldiers alive.
"You sure this is it?" I asked Jinx.
He nodded. "General's orders."
I checked everyone's buffering bands again. Green, five bars each. Hooo-kay.
"Alright- combat drop and dust off!"
Jinx did another great job, starting to take the helo up even as we were stepping off it. The auto-pilot was lazier, waiting to let all five privates get a few steps away before starting a slow climb up. I motioned Telson and Harper to come with Juan and me as Zazlu rode herd on the other five privates.
"Remember- weapons safe and total noise discipline," I hissed into my mike, looking Telson and Harper in the eye and when I turned back to the treeline a black shape was already sliding out of the shadows at me.
I froze.
The Hell-Spider was bigger than Three-Spot, its shell shinier and a deeper black. Its razor claws were already drawn, waiting.
With great effort, peeled my finger off my trigger and let my rifle hang free on its strap. Friendly , I
"The General expects five confirmed kills this mission," Hughes yelled at us as Jinx spun the rotors up. "Or else you and I will start training together every day . And just to ensure that there are no breaches in discipline, I will be listening to your implant chatter." He smiled and shook his walkie-talkie at me, then ordered Grimstone to tie it into our squad comms. Grimmy gave me a look, I had no choice but to nod, and he did.
"Check, check," I said into the mike on my chest armor, and Grimstone gave me a thumbs up. So did Hughes, the walkie-talkie pressed to his ear. Then we boarded the choppers.
Jinx flew the right path this time, the actual listed flight plan around the Night Hunting Grounds and towards the valley where all the Hell-Spiders lived. An auto-piloted chopper followed us with the rest of the privates. As our base faded out of view I stopped praying to Three-Spot. I had to prepare the squad.
Zazlu was eating his energy bar angrily, but he was in the field now. He was pissed, but he would get done anything I asked of him. Juan was draining his second bottle of Gatorade and cocking and re-cocking the grenade launcher he was pointing out the open side of the chopper. His finger danced around the trigger, but he was okay too. And Grimstone had at least been on a few patrols with us before.
But drunk private- shit, what was his real name again... Telson, he was shaking like a whore in church. And cocaine private Harper was shaking like a minister at a Boy Scout meeting. This was their first real action, ever. And neither they nor the other privates knew anything about our deal with Three-Spot.
I leaned forward in my harness and tapped both privates on the knees. "Listen, you two," I said, fully aware that Hughes might as well have been there in the chopper with us. "You may see a lot of scary things out there today, but I want you two both to observe ABSOLUTE NOISE DISCIPLINE.
"That's what's kept us safe on our other missions. I want the both of you to keep your MOUTHS SHUT and not comment on ANYTHING you may see out there, no matter what it is. Do you read me, Privates?" I couldn't have Lieutenant Looked them any harder if I had been the janitor from OCS himself.
"Ye-yessss, sir," Telson stammered, his eyes terrified. Harper nodded too.
"And NO MATTER WHAT," I continued, "DO NOT FIRE until Lieutenant Mohammed says 'weapons free'. If you fire while we are establishing position on the enemy, I WILL SHOOT YOU MYSELF. CLEAR?"
"Yes sir!" they squeaked.
I leaned back, took a deep breath, and looked at Zazlu. He nodded back. It was the best we could do.
I started praying to Three-Spot again as Jinx started circling our drop-off spot. It was deep in the valley, and outside the fire-cleared landing zone you couldn't see anything through the solid tree cover. There were about a million ambush locations waiting in the shadowed jungle. No patrol that had ever been dropped off here had EVER returned, with ANY of their soldiers alive.
"You sure this is it?" I asked Jinx.
He nodded. "General's orders."
I checked everyone's buffering bands again. Green, five bars each. Hooo-kay.
"Alright- combat drop and dust off!"
Jinx did another great job, starting to take the helo up even as we were stepping off it. The auto-pilot was lazier, waiting to let all five privates get a few steps away before starting a slow climb up. I motioned Telson and Harper to come with Juan and me as Zazlu rode herd on the other five privates.
"Remember- weapons safe and total noise discipline," I hissed into my mike, looking Telson and Harper in the eye and when I turned back to the treeline a black shape was already sliding out of the shadows at me.
I froze.
The Hell-Spider was bigger than Three-Spot, its shell shinier and a deeper black. Its razor claws were already drawn, waiting.
With great effort, peeled my finger off my trigger and let my rifle hang free on its strap. Friendly , I
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